Description of the attraction
One of the oldest ruins of Paris, the Terme Cluny, has been preserved in the Latin Quarter. This bathhouse dates back to the Gallo-Roman era, reminiscent of the times when Rome owned half the world. It is believed that the baths were built at the beginning of the 3rd century.
In ancient Rome, the baths were arranged as centers of social life. They were public and free. The Baths of Cluny is believed to have been built by the powerful boatmen guild of Lutetia, but there is no direct evidence of this. It is known, however, that they were part of the palace of the governor of Gaul, Constance Chlorus.
Now you can see about a third of the former antique baths. The spacious frigidarium, a hall with cool air, where one could take a break from the heat of the bath, has survived better than other premises. The vaults of the frigidarium are brickwork, up to 14 meters high. Here you can see arches and columns, as well as the remains of wall paintings and mosaics. On the western side of the term lie the remains of the terpidarium hall, where there were baths for bathing. Water was supplied here by means of an aqueduct from the southern outskirts of Lutetia. In the ruins, archaeologists also found a fifteen-meter fragment of a sewer pipe - the Romans took sanitary standards very seriously.
The Baths were built on the left bank of the Seine, they were not protected by the defenses of the Ile de la Cité. At the end of the 3rd century, during the next raid of barbarian tribes, the baths were destroyed. Much later, in the 13th century, a monastery of the Order of Cluny was built on this site (and partly on the preserved Roman foundations). At the end of the 15th century, Abbot Jacques Amboise added a mansion to the buildings of the monastery. During the revolution, the monks are expelled, the monastery becomes the property of the state. Since 1832, a private museum has been located here, which was later bought out from the owners by the state.
Today, the medieval mansion houses the Cluny Museum, the full name of which is: State Museum of the Middle Ages - Thermes and Cluny Mansion. The ancient baths thus became part of a larger museum. But they function completely independently and are open to tourists. Here you can see a large collection of stonework from different eras, excavated in Paris.
